1) Introduction - I have tried to avoid
listing hotels or places to stay for the entire 15 years I have lived here. I
am not a travel agent, so I do not get a commission, nor do I ever want to
start making reservations for hotels. But, I get continual requests for me to
help out with suggestions for places to stay. Also remember I have yet to ever
stay in one these hotels, as my wife has yet to kick me out of our house, or
there was never a need, because we have lived in our home for several years
now. I can only go by client’s experiences.

With the repetitive emails I have to write about
Ixtapa/Zihuatanjo’s places to stay and their plus and minuses, it is best for
me to kind of summarize the locations, telling it from the perspective of a
“local”, and not as a travel agent trying to get a commission. I will tell you
things they will not tell you. We have it all here in Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo and to
fit every budget. You can find a place to stay which meets your needs. We are a
great family destination here in Ixtapa / Zihuatanejo, or for a fisherman and
his fishing partner you can get a basic clean room with “just a roof over your
head” with air-conditioning. If you prefer high end, then we also have that
available. Plus, we have locations with seclusion on a private beach, yet you
or your family will feel safe for your entire stay.

The only “danger” you will ever encounter here in
ixtapa/Zihuatanejo is the possibility of not wanting to return back home.

Ixtapa - Note the abundance of Coconut palmsin the foreground. Ixtapa was originally a coco plantation.

2) Ixtapa – Everything as far as needed to book
a room is on the internet, but here are some insights to what I have learned
over the years. Ixtapa proper is a planned resort with about a mile and a half
of main road, with hotels and condominium towers lining the beach; ending at
the Ixtapa marina.

The marina is for private yachts only, and any tourist
sport fishing from the Ixtapa Marina is illegal…even though it is done. (This
includes certain resorts claiming they “have a boat” for charter in the
marina).

Ixtapa is divided into 2 hotel zones. Hotel Zone 2 is
up North and about 15 minutes from the main hotel zone. The Melia, Club Med,
and Qualton are the three hotels in Hotel zone 2, with Capella about mid way
between the two zones.

Even the Las Brisas in Ixtapa, which is very popular,
tries to claim a 5 star status, but these hotels are not 5 stars, and would be
pushing it to even be 4 star.

Most of the hotels in Ixtapa have gone “all inclusive”.
In my estimation, they wouldn’t have done that, unless there was good money to
made, which means you are probably paying more than you need to. And, an all
inclusive really discourages people from wandering out and sampling the rich
Mexican cuisine of the small restaurants we are noted for. After all, why pay
for a dinner and take a taxi to somewhere else, if it is already paid for back at
the hotel? But, an all inclusive
situation sure may pay off if you have a couple of teenage boys, who can easily
eat up all the profits the hotel expected to make off you.

Ixtapa proper is located along Playa Palmar, which can
be a terrible swimming beach. When the flag is up, it is not safe to swim as
the shore break of the waves is very high, and the undertow is very strong. The
flag is up a lot and a few Mexican Nationals die each year as the alcohol
influences them to be macho. Plus, one or two north of the border tourists dies
every couple of years from heart failure due to the stress of the undertow. The
majority of the beach closures take place in June, July, and August, which are
the popular Mexican National months for vacationing. I have never heard of a
child drowning…Usually it is adult men (no matter the nationality).

If you have been to any other resort beach destination
in the world like Florida, Hawaii, or Cabo San Lucas, the hotel resorts in
Ixtapa are all the same as the other destinations. Once you have stayed in one,
you have stayed in them all. But, it still amazes me how some people fly in to
the Zihuatanejo Airport, take a taxi to the hotel in Ixtapa and never leave it
until it is time to get a taxi back to the airport. They then go back home and
tell their friends how they spent a week in Mexico and mingled with the “locals”.
The locals are always the bar tender and waiters.

You can’t believe how many times I have heard the story
of “our friend the bartender…or waiter”. I have no idea when these people will
ever wake up. The guy is friendly, and gets a tip. Come back next year, and he
remembers the good tip…etc. He will invite you to his home for a special
occasion, and you will bring a special gift for the child or whoever. The special
gift would not have happened if you did not come, or had not been invited. And,
there is absolutely nothing wrong with getting a special gift for someone who
would not have had it otherwise. But, it is BS if you really think he is your
friend. He will be your friend as long as the money does not dry up…Use common
sense as to how far you want to dig into your pockets or make other long term
commitments with the individual (loans, buying property, etc).

The Hotel Zone 2
in Ixtapa is way out and up to the north…It is a good 15 minutes drive from
Ixtapa proper. There is the Club Med, Melia Ixtapa, and the Qualton. They are
great all inclusive resorts, with the Club Med being especially kid orientated.
The Melia is incredible, with new additions, a convention center and many
extras. The beaches for these three resorts have are very protected with very
little wave action, and no danger as you can have on Playa Palmar in Ixtapa
proper.

The biggest problems with the Hotel Zone 2 are the
remoteness and management’s attitude to keep the people confined to the resort.
They do not want their clients to venture in to Ixtapa or Zihuatanejo to sample
the shops or restaurants. If you are there, they want you to spend all of your
money in their boutiques, extra bar tab, etc. They allowed the strong Taxi
Union to set the rate for a trip to Zihuatanejo, which is a ridicules $30…They
allowed the Union to set the rates just like the monopoly at the airport. A
trip a mile away to Playa Linda, to get a boat for fishing is over $5.00, and
the taxi driver is pissed, because he waited in line all night to get the $30
fee to the municipal pier in Zihuatanejo. A taxi trip anywhere in Zihuatanejo
is about $2.00…so they have even doubled the costs for a short drive. I tell clients to have the boat pick them up
at the Playa Linda pier, which is used by the water taxi pangas to take
tourists to Ixtapa Island. Melia Ixtapa and Qualton people can easily walk the
couple of hundred yards along the beach, and Club Med people will have to piss
off a taxi driver for the $5.00 ride.

In Hotel Zone 2, for your every day sightseeing and
getting around (7:00 AM to 7:00 PM), take the micro bus, which stops in front
of the hotels on the main road. It will take you to Zihuatanejo Centro for less
than $1.00 per person. When you go back, just take taxi to the front of Sam’s
Club and wait for the bus with “Playa Linda” on the windshield… When you
approach your destination, just yell out “Club Med”, or “Melia”…and the bus
will stop. It is the same $1.00 price per person. Or, take a taxi back from
Zihuatanejo…about $10.00…go figure as to how they set the taxi rates out there.

There
is one advantage to staying in Ixtapa, and it is fiscal. There
are some vacation plans which put together a charter for the plane, or a
package deal through a specialized travel agency, and can give you a great
break on pricing. Some of these packages will actually have the price where
basically the hotel room is free for your stay, or the flight. These plans seem
to be available to people from the mid-west, the Michigan/Wisconsin states, and
even Colorado. They are great deals.

The zocalo in Zihuatanejo is a basketball court and plaza on Playa Principal.

3) Zihuatanejo – Zihuatanejo gives a
person the feeling of “freedom of movement”. You actually feel like you are
visiting mainland Mexico, and not a tourist resort. Nor is the place you stay
in lined up with one resort after another. They are spread out all around the
bay and in the town itself. And, the taxi rates around town are far less than
the rates in Ixtapa. The reason is in Ixtapa, the taxis deal primarily with
tourists, whereas in Zihuatanejo, they deal with everyday local people. And
that kind of summarizes it. Where the everyday working people live,
rates are less than where the tourist destinations are. It does not matter if
it is a taxi, restaurant, or a place to stay. The options are more varied to
fit your needs and budget.

The only “tourist areas” in Zihuatanejo are the flea
market and several shops within two blocks of the municipal pier. The balance
of the city is a normal mainland Mexican town catering to the all the needs of
the local population.

Plus, Zihuatanejo has the Bay and the Municipal Pier,
where all sport fishing boats must embark from. On the southerly side of
Zihuatanejo Bay are Playa Madera and Playa Ropa, and ending up at Playa Las
Gatas. Playa Ropa is one of the most beautiful beaches in the area.

One downside of Zihuatanejo is the sewage treatment
plant coming out of the lagoon on the north side of the municipal pier. During
peak seasons, with Mexican Nationals and north of the border tourists here
(Christmas, and Easter Week) our population swells by more than 40,000 people.
Or, from the heavy outflows of the rain season (June through October) the
treatment plants can’t keep up, and discharge almost untreated water into the
bay. In the last few years there have been improvements to the treatment
plants, but the capacity still can’t handle the huge increases. This makes the
areas around the pier, and the Playa principal as not being healthy to swim in
under those conditions. A general rule of thumb is if the water is clear, there
is less chlorophyll, and probably just fine.

By the time the beach gets around to Playa Madera and La Ropa, everything is fine again, due to the incoming swells flushing out the bay.

With the Municipal Pier in the background, night fishermensell their catch in the morning

Playa Madera

Playa Ropa

Another downside to Zihuatanejo is to try to avoid the
hotels near the Centro two block “tourist zone”. The teenage kids here in town
want to party, and the Mexican Nationals only come to party. The bars and
discos in Centro encourage that with loud music until 5 to even 6 in the
morning. A room may only be $35 a night in Centro, but if you can’t sleep, what
good is it? It is best to leave those rooms to the people who party all night
and let them blissfully sleep all day, to do it all over again the next night.

Plus, depending on where you are in Ixtapa, the same
can be true from the bars and discos there. Always try and get a beach facing
room, and not a main street facing room. The loud music will just bounce off
those high rise hotels.

I certainly still recommend Zihuatanejo over Ixtapa for
the normal unattached tourist. There are a lot of places to stay, unaffected by
discos and all inclusive resorts, with a more realistic ambient of Mexico.

4) Moderate hotels on the beaches
(Zihuatanejo) – I have had clients which prefer the Villas Mexicana
on the Playa Ropa, and I agree. The sister hotel on Playa Madera is the Irma,
but unlike the Villas, the Irma is a vertical hotel, with a lot of steps to the
beach (and back up). Most places on Playa Madera are “vertical” hotels, with a
lot of steps. Brisas Del Mar is another good hotel, but “vertical”.

This also holds true for the Sotovento and Catalina, which are traditional old
standbys, with a great following, but they have a lot of steps.

The Avila, on Playa principal is an older hotel, but in
great condition. The Avila has no swimming pool, and I would not recommend
swimming in front of the hotel in certain times of the year, but, for less than
$100 a night, it is has a very good value, especially if you have a small
group. There are three rooms up on the 2nd floor with a great view
of the Bay and a private terrace. But, contact the hotel direct, and not the
name listed on the web page. He is just an American who developed a web page
for them and is reaping the benefits in terms of commission. There are lots of
very good places to eat nearby, including the restaurant downstairs.

5) Economy rooms –
There are a few economy rooms available near the municipal pier, and not as
much affected by the late night music of the discos. The first one is above the
restaurant Garrobo’s (which means a huge male iguana). The rooms used to be
about $45 a night and I have had a lot of clients stay there. They all gave it
a decent approval.

The second one is across the pedestrian bridge in the
parking lot at the municipal pier. It is the same location as Lety’s restaurant
is located, so you can’t go wrong. In my opinion, Lety is the No. 1 seafood
restaurant in all of the Ixtapa / Zihuatanejo area. The rate is about $50 a
night, but lacks hot water in the morning. Plus, they have WiFi.
Air-conditioned rooms are available, as well as you can ask for a small fridge
for your room. Tani, Lety’s brother, is the manager.

A typical economy room at Lety's

And, there are a few others like the Monarca and Zihuat
Centro, which people have been pleased with when we talked. Zihuat Centro will
need a few more recommendations, as new discos have set up, and I am not sure
if it affected or not.

6) With kitchenettes (recommended) - I
highly recommend a room with a kitchenette, or full kitchen. It does not matter
where you stay, either in Ixtapa or Zihuatanejo, when you pay almost $2.00 (or
more) for a bottle of water, which costs 30 cents at the Commercial Mexicana
market, combined with $5 drinks, $2 sodas, $3 beer, etc. It does not take long
to having some serious savings for your room with a kitchen. And, all it takes
is a short 25 pesos taxi ride to the Commercial Mexicana to stock up on what
you need.

Plus, when you eat out for dinner, as most people do,
the microwave in the kitchen is great for a mid-day snack for leftovers. And
you can really appreciate a fridge when you have small kids, who will drink a
soda, set it down and forget where they left it. Then 15 minutes later they
want another.

Another advantage is having a coffee pot in your room,
and not when the kitchen staff finely arrives and coffee is available at 8:00. Or,
with the hot water in the coffee pot, you can also brew your tea…bought in the
Commercial Mexicana.

If you look around on the internet a bit, you will find there will be large savings as compared to a hotel in Ixtapa on the beach. Yet, you will have everything you need, at a much lower cost...meaning you now have enough money to spend three days on the water fishing, and not just one.

Author’s
Note:A tip for
getting drinks, beer, and sodas to your room when staying in Ixtapa, as they do
not allow you to bring them into the hotel, is to tell the people at the entry
you are fishing tomorrow, and will need them on the boat. It works…And, will
save you some money.

A few of the hotels which I have experience with
clients and their good recommendations are:

a)Bungalows Aldemar on Playa Madera. They are
great, with a pool and a very good setting. There is no view of the beach, but
it is just a few paces around the corner to a great swim beach on Playa Madera…without
a lot of stair climbing steps, up or down.

b)Hotel Azucenas is one of my favorites. They
are just off the beach on Playa Ropa (about 100 yards) and right next door to
Villas Mexicana. The view of the bay is not there, but there are several amenities
which more than make up for the lack of a beach location. The high end workmanship
is incredible. Azucena is a great host, and speaks English well. She also
maintains a very good restaurant.

c) Hotel
Solimar is not far from Centro, and about a ½ mile off the beach…but is a great
hotel with very reasonable prices. Several clients have told me they really
enjoyed their stay there. Plus, it is just a half a block away from Doña Liche’s,
one of our best locations for breakfast or lunch, and 1 block from the main
Mercado, which has an incredible amount of great eateries, sells fresh fish,
fresh veggies, etc. It is a very quiet part of town, and very close to the real
Mexico Mainland experience.d) The small hotel Real de la Palma has also received an excellent recommendation. The couple had one of the kitchen suites for only 900 pesos a night (about $75). The hotel is just a short distance from Playa Ropa, down near the end closest to Las Gatas. Plus, there are a couple of separate bungaglows.

Casa Los Arcos on Playa Blanca

7) Private homes
and condos – A private home or condo can actually be cost saving when

compared to a hotel with a small group or a large family looking for a place to
stay. There will be

a full kitchen for warming up leftovers, making dinner, or
making a quick breakfast. There is a

large fridge for water sodas, drinks, ice,
etc.

They usually have a maid
which can come in a couple of days a week and some even can provide more service,
a cook, etc. Sometimes a vehicle or driver can even be had. If you want
seclusion, but to feel safe and secure, this can happen also. Private homes and
condos are located from Troncones on down to past the airport at Barra Potsi.

Beach view from Casa Los Arcos

a)One of my favorites is Casa Los Arcos on
Playa Blanca. I guess I am partial to the house as I built it. The owner, Lupe
Martinez, lives in San Jose California, and has yet to pull the plug to move
down here and live full time. The house is 6,400 square feet on a full acre of
land, with 164 feet of beach frontage. The nearest neighbor is a full quarter of a mile
away to the south, and over a mile away to the north

There
is a gardener/care keeper in the day, a three times a week cleaning woman, and a
night security man. An insured vehicle is also available for a small additional
fee. Internet is available with the small memory stick which logs you on to
TelCell (I do not think an iPad will accept the signal, but all other brands of laptops do.). The house has Dish satellite TV, and two TV screens of 42” and 50”,
plus a selection of movies. There are a total of 4 bedrooms, with three
available. All rooms are air-conditioned, have individual bathrooms, and a
locking door.

Jack Crevalle sometime bust bait on the beach in front of the house, as well as roosterfish. In December through March, you can even see humpback whales and their calves.Also, this is one instance I will be around to check up on things to be sure you are fine.

Rates
are for a 2-3 night minimum:

2
rooms - $250 a night

3
Rooms - $300 a night

Rates
for 4-6 nights:

2
rooms - $200 a night

3
rooms - $250 a night

Only one room per night (minimum 3 nights) - $125

b)Bungalows Solecito, at Barra Potosi, is
another favorite of mine. I have had a fishing client stay there for several
years now. He has caught several jack crevalle from the beach in front of his
bungalow with both the spin rod and the fly rod. They feature a pool and a
restaurant, with individual bungalows and suites.

Solecito bungalow

Solecito

One of Don Wolcott's severaljacks
(a golden jack) from in front of Solecito

c) Tree Tops bungalows on Playa Blanca...only 5 minutes from the airport, but right on the beach. Artistically rustic, the cabañas are built of wood and natural materials with palm thatch roofs. Fully furnished with king size beds, dresser and drawers, table and chairs. And, a front porch with hammocks and lounge chairs. http://www.zihuatanejo.net/bungalowstreetops/

d)A very popular destination for people to stay is in Troncones. It has a nice
beach,rocks,

tide pools and a general quite seclusion, sitting among many
other similar places to stay there.

Troncones, with the new highway being
completed to Zihuatanejo, is only about a 30 minute

drive.

Casas Gregorio in Troncones

Ernie Mrachek is a decent fisherman, has lived here for a lot of years, and has become sort of an icon in the Troncones area. He can help you out with just more than fishing questions. He manages Casas Gregorio...www.casasgregorio.com

e) Another popular place
in Troncones is Casa
Delfin Sonriente, a beach front rental villa/bed

8) Puerto Vicente Guerrero - Even further and more remote from Zihuatanejo is Puerto Vicente Guerrero just south of Papanoa. and about an hour and 15 minutes from the airport in Zihuatanejo. The main reason for mentioning this is because the fishing is incredible at times. It is my favorite place to fish.

The clients stay in a small 4 room hotel which is primarily a restaurant. The rooms have air-conditioning. The Monserrat is on a beautiful, and very fishable beach, and also has a very nice swimming pool. The hotel is only a couple of years old, and the $80 a night charge is extremely reasonable. During most of the year you will be the only people there, as the restaurant really only gets its business on the weekends, and especially on Sundays. One small downfall is the restaurant closes at 6 PM, so you will have to eat early. Plus, for breakfast or lunch, you are not just confined to there, as there are also several palapa style beach restaurants nearby to sample.

Huge oysters at Puerto Vicente Guerrero for

about $8 a dozen

La Barrita is a quiet and very small
fishing village, about 50 minutes South of the Zihuatanejo airport. It also has
several beach side palapa restaurants for travelers on the main highway from
Acapulco to Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo. La Barrita has excellent year round shore
fishing, especially for roosterfish from June through December. Starting in
November of 2013, a small bed/breakfast bungalow will be available to rent to
people who want to experience the true Mexican traditional beach living.

La Barrita

Mark Denison with one of several jacks caught in March

9)High End –
As far as hotels go, there are only three 5 star hotels here. Two are on the
bay in Zihuatanejo, and one is out near the Hotel Zone 2 of Ixtapa. The other
hotels in Ixtapa try to claim 5 star status, but are no more than a three…and
maybe approaching a 4 star…but not anything else.

a) The Viceroy on Playa Ropa
in Zihuatanejo is probably the most popular. There are actually special offer
savings at certain times of the year. I have never heard of a poor review. The
worse I have heard has been “fantastic!”

b) The second, but closer to
Playa Madera on the bay in Zihuatanejo, is Casa Que Canta. It is considered to
be one of the top 10 small hotels in Latin America, with the No. 1 cuisine in
Mexico for 2013 from Travel and Leisure. Built on a rocky promontory, it has
only a very small rocky beach and lots of steps to get to it.

c) Capellas is out near the
Hotel Zone 2 in Ixtapa. I have also heard great reviews here, but it is
relatively new compared to Casa Que Canta and the Viceroy. I also believe it is
kind of a “vertical” hotel, with the pool area being down a bunch of steps. It
is basically built on a cliff, with no beach anywhere nearby. Again, the taxis
have control of the rates out in the Hotel Zone 2, so expect to pay.